The present invention relates to computer networking, and more specifically to determining and conveying the availability state of a user of a computer messaging network.
Computer messaging network users can communicate with each other through a variety of techniques (e.g., e-mail, Instant Messaging, chat rooms, etc.). When communicating, a user can send a single message to another user or try to initiate a communication session with the other user.
An availability service is offered in some Instant Messaging (IM) environments. In this service, the availability state of a user is determined either from an explicitly declared intent (e.g., “Available” or “Unavailable”) or an implicitly determined condition (e.g., based on events in the user's computing environment). For example, the idle state of a user's computing environment may trigger a change in the user's availability state to “Away-from-the-computer.” Users observing the IM user may use availability information (e.g., availability, location information, last-available time, etc.) before attempting to initiate an IM conversation.